DOCUMENT RESUME ED 052 219 24 TE 499 825 AUTHOR Hardiman, George W. TITLE Identification and Evaluation of Trained and Untrained Observers' Affective Responses to Art Ob'ects. Final Report. INSTITUTION Illinois Univ., Urbana. Dept. of Art. SPONS AGENCY Office of Education (DREW), Washington, D.C. Bureau of Research. BUREAU NO BR-9-0051 PUB DATE Mar 71 GRANT OEG-5-9-230051-0027 NOTE 113p. EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS *Affective Behavior, *Art Expression, *Color Presentation, *Data Analysis, Factor Analysis, *Measurement Instruments, Rating Scales ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were twofold: (1) to empirically identify and analyze trained and untrained observers affective responses to a representative collection of paintings for the purpose et constructing art differential instruments, and (2) to use these instruments to objectively identify and evaluate the major affective factors and components associated with selected paintings by trained and untrained observers. The first objective was accomplished by having 120 trained and 120 untrained observers elicit a universe of 12,450 adjective qualifiers to a collection of 209 color slides of paintings. Data analyses yielded subsets of adjective qualifiers most characteristic of trained and untrained observers' affective decoding of the 209 slides. These subsets served as a basis for constructing separate art differential instruments for trained and untrained observers' use in subsequent analyses. The second objective was achieved by having 48 trained and 48 untrained observers rate 24 color slides of paintings on 50 scale art differential instruments. Trained and untrained observers' art differential ratings of the 24 paintings were factor analyzed in order to identify the major affective factors associated with the paintings. For the trained observers, these were: aesthetic-evaluative, dynamism, emotive, and structural-organization. For the untrained, the factors were: aesthetic-evaluative, potency, and emotive. (Author/CK) 9- co U.S. DEPARTMENT OF KITH. EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION -PA)Glq THIS DOCUMENT HAS fIffN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE Identification ancl Evaluation PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS of trained and untrained observers' affective ME DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION responses to art objects POSITION OR POLICY George W. Hardin's!' -rejo 4'6 University of Illinois Department of Art Urbana, Illinois liabeparthient of Health, Edar#S0-1;ird V/Mfare ,OffSia Of EthiCatiOn, Bureau of Reseirch r , "4 1.441.'k 'Po; CSJ CSJ FINAL REPORT Project No. 9-0051 C:) Grant No. DEG -5 -9- 230051 -0027 C:3 IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF TRAINED AND UNTRAINED OBSERVERS' AFFECTIVE RESPONSES TO ART OBJECTS George W. Hardiman Department of Art University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois March 1971 The research reported herein was performed pursuant to a grant with the Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Contractors undertaking such projects under Government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment in the con- duct of the project. Points of view or opinions stated do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Office of Education position or policy. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE Office of Education Bureau of Research 2 Abstract The objectives of this study were twofold: (1) to empirically identify and analyze trained and untrained observers' affective responses (adjective qualifiers) to a representative collection of paintings for the purpose of constructing art differential instruments; and, (2) to use these instruments to objectively identify and evaluate the major affective factors and components associated with selected paintings by trained and untrained observers. The first objective was accomplished by having 120 trained observers and 120 untrained observers elicit a universe of 12,450 adjective qualifiers to a collection of 209 color slides of paintings. The paintings were selected to represent the major style periods in the history of Western painting from the Gothic through the Twentieth Century. These data were analyzed by computerized procedures according to frequency, diversity and independence criteria. These analyses yielded subsets of adjective qualifiers most characteristic of trained and untrained observers' affective decoding of the 209 color slides. These subsets served as a basis for constructing separate art differential instruments for trained and untrained observers, use in.sUbsequent analysou. The second objective was achieved by having 48 trained and 48 untrained observers rate 24 color slides of paintings on 50 scale art.differentiel instruments. The 24 paintings were selected to represent a simplified style continuum ranging from representational through semi-abstract to non-objective across various painting techniques, subject matter, and chronology. Trained end untrained observers' art differential ratings of the 24 paintings were factor analyzed in order to identify the major affective factors and components associated with the 24 paintings. In these analyses the affective behavior of trained observers was characterized by four main factors: Aesthetic-Evaluative, Dynamism, Emotive, and Structural - Organizational, in order of importance. Untrained observers' affective behavior was characterized by three main factors: Aesthetic-Evaluative, Potency and Emotive, in order of importance. 3 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Research Orientation 1 1.2 The Effect of Training on Observers' Affective Responses to Works of Art 2 1.3 The Development of the Semantic Differential Technique 5 1.4 The Application of the Semantic Differential Technique in Arts Education Research . 11 1.5 Research Objectives 14 2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURES 16 2.1 Research Design 16 2.2 Phase I 16 2.21 Subjects 16 2.22Stimuli 17 2.23Procedure for Eliciting Adjective Qualifiers 35 2.24 Analysis of Adjective Qualifiers 37 2.25 Opposite Elicitation and Construction of Art Differential Instruments . 48 2.3Phase II 55 2.31 Subjects 55 2.32Stimuli 56 2.33Procedures for Collecting Art Differential Data 59 2.34 Procedures for Factor Analyzing Art Differential Data 59 3. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 3.1 Concept on Scale F :ictorizations for Trained and Untrained Observers 61 3.11 Results for Trained Observers 61 3.12 Results for Untrained Observers . , 67 3.2Conclusions 72 4 iv Page REFERENCES 74 APPENDIX 78 Jr- CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research Orientation The recent funding by the United States Office of Education of several empirically oriented pilot projects in the area of affective behavior in the arts attests to the growing interest among educators in developing means for rigorously evaluating various aspects of this highly complex and frequently unobtrusive dimension of human behavior. While many fruitful approaches may be token to objectively study affective behavior in the arts, the present study is limited to evaluating those features of affective behavior which can be brought into the realm of scientific investigation by use of the Semantic Differential Technique. Four research oriented factors influenced the principal investigator's decision to select this graphic rating technique for use in this study: 1. Its empirically established value and sensitivity in studying certain significant components of affective behavior. 2. Its theoretical foundation in contemporary S/R Mediation Theory. 3. Its impressive construct validity which has been demonstrated in a wide variety of pancultural research applications. 2. 4. Its flexibility and practical efficacy as a research tool. The presence of Professor Charles Osgood, the originator of this technique, and the availability of highly sophisticated computerized procedures for processing semantic differential data at the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois were secondary considerations which influenced the selection of this research tool. 1.2The Effect of Training on Observers' Affective Responses to Works of Art In order to tap the effect which formal training in the arts has on shaping affective behavior, as measured by the Semantic Differential Technique, an important distinction was made by this study regarding the acquisition and structure of trained and untrained subjects, affective behavior. From both anecdotal art classroom observation and more formally structured observation (10), it appears that the affective responses associated with works of art by trained observers, i.e., observers with extensive formal training in studio art, aesthetics, and art history, are more consistent and homogeneous than those responses made by untrained observers, i.e., observers with no formal training in art. Specifically, trained observers, as a result of similar formal learning experiences in art, seem to have an idiosyncratic language 7 3. structure with shared components which mediates their verbal expression of affect or emotion to works of art. From the orientation presented here, when trained observers respond to paintings effectively using the verbal channel of communication, for example, there is a translation of experience gained through the visual modality into the affective or =motional modality and finally into the verbal modality. This crossmodal stimulus equivalence is learned in a way which parallels that of metaphor in language. Of course, untrained observers also make verbal responses to paintings which are